A Couple of K&T Questions
Hello! I had a couple of questions about the K&T tour that I was hoping you could help answer. The first is, just how bumpy/rough are the roads in Kenya & Tanzania? Are you getting tossed about frequently and is it “pain inducing?” Or do you just need to hold on to avoid getting jostled? Second question - kind of trivial but I’m wondering, are there blow dryers in all of the hotels on this tour? Thanks in advance for any info!
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The bumpiness can depend on the time of year, whether there has been rain or not. When we first went in around 2007, the roads were worse than they are now as more are paved and In better conditioned than in the part of the US we live in. We just think of it as part of the AFRICA fun. There was on day however, when I was injured. The drivers generally tell you when you are about to move off from a spot….When you are standing up with your head out of the roof. There was a report of a lion siring and our driver immediately sped away and I was thrown backwards while standing on the seat…..a normal thing you do on safari…I got a massive bruise right around my kidneys. Thankfully no apparent other damage but it was painful. I suggest sitting down when a vehicle moves. Most drivers will tell you they are going to move, but clearly not always.
As British said it varies by season and area.
We did this in 2015. Some of the main roads may have been improved by now.
The drive to Lake Manyara and on to Ngorongoro Crater is on a narrow, but well-maintained asphalt or groomed dirt roads In the crater itself all roads are mostly level dirt, with and without wet and dry pot holes, depending on season. We drove out to the Serengeti but now tours fly. Game drives in the Serengeti are also on occasionally graded but generally unimproved dirt roads. I believe the safari vehicles had to stay on designated (dirt) roads and could not deviate like they could in the Mara in Kenya, except when trying to pass a stopped vehicle.
You will fly back to Arusha then travel via safari vehicles to Amboseli. The road to the border was asphalt but not much further before it turned to generally maintained dirt/gravel. The (dirt) roads in Amboseli were generally flat with a few ruts and possible pot holes left from the rainy season. The game drives from Mount Kenya Safari Club are mostly in and around Nanyuki and Ol Pejeta, so mostly on paved or groomed dirt roads.
The game drives with probably the roughest roads were in the Masai Mara in Kenya. Vehicles were permitted to deviate from the "roads/trails", though the drivers did not do it too often- they were never sure what they would encounter in the tall savanna grass. During the game drive after the balloon flight two vehicles, one of which was ours, had to be towed out of deep pot holes.
I would characterize what we encountered as a lot of severe jostling rather than kidney-bruising, jarring bumps.
I would not say the bumps, pot holes, etc. were pain inducing, but if you weren't paying attention, holding on, or braced- could be a jolting surprise. This is from a person with no back/spine or other skeletal issues (at that point in time
.) The husband of mazalea, a fellow Tauktourian who visits here, had a (major?) back (could have been hip) issue and had to have a medevac flight home from the Serengeti (see link). If you have back, etc. issues, I would definitely consult with your orthopedist.
https://forums.tauck.com/discussion/comment/51318/#Comment_51318
We did this tour in the second half of June 2015 and here are some pertinent photos from then:
Lake Manyara (in the park). If you aren't the lead vehicle you can sometimes be sucking dust! True elsewhere as well.
Typical "road" at Amboseli (we stayed on the roads). Law of gross tonnage- the elephant has the right of way here!!
"In town" at Nanyuki.
At Ol Pejete
Masai Mara. Yahooo!!! Yippee Ki Yay!!
Just a "little" (2 in. - 2 ft. + deep) pot hole. We required a tow. A similar one snagged another vehicle on the way to "breakfast in the bush."
Sometimes the vehicles can get overcrowded as well.
Just kidding. I found, as Alan mentioned the dust to be more of a problem than the bumps. Having a bandana that you can easily pull up/down from your face as the dust situation warrants is important.
I found, last year, that it was pretty rough in the safari vehicles. We switched sides of the vehicles every other day to give the arms a rest and use the other arm. You did have to hold on. Also, I br. ought blow-up seat pads and for me, they really helped. They fold up real small, are called Deerfamy, probably on Amazon and blow up in 2 or 3 breaths.
For sure there were bumpy moments, some locations more so than others. Perhaps because it was near the end of the trip, but the long day and drive to see the migration seemed to be a memorable bumpy ride. To inject some levity into this discussion, my wife's Apple Watch counted 20,000 steps that day, and it was not steps that it was registering!
Wow, thank you, everyone for the detailed and descriptive accounts! I really appreciate you all taking the time to provide such informative feedback! Love the photos, AlanS! And the “hitchhiker” pic, Smiling Sam! 🐆 😂 Some of those photos definitely look like it was quite the adventure! The hilly terrain reminded me a little of the 2.5 hour ride across marshlands in Jeeps to see the King penguins in the Falkland Islands (more mud than dust there)! They had warned people with back problems not to go. It wasn’t bad if you intently braced yourself since they did not move too fast. Seat cushions sound like a good idea! Did you have a long (and “cratered”) ride to get to the hot air balloon launch site? What time of year were you each there? Thanks again!
Please be aware that quite often the balloon trip cannot go because of weather conditions. that happened to us on our first trip to K and T. Tauck will of course reimburse you.
We left the camp VERY early, before sunrise (which happened during the flight) when there is no or very little wind. From what I remember it wasn't a long or especially bumpy drive, but you need an open area because they inflate the balloons when you get there. We went the second half of June.
It was much darker than it appears in the first photo. It was a bit cool too!!!
During our flight we passed the crew setting up our champagne breakfast in the bush.
The omlette-to-order chef
They have changed the launch site for the balloon ride to an area where they determined there is less chance of wind problems. We missed the balloon ride on our first trip, but we have now had two successful rides. I find the balloon ‘launch’ thoroughly entertaining.
These photos are AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing! Definitely a good promo for the K&T tour!
I’m sure the time of year and weather are important, but I think personal background may play a role in how bumpy you think the roads are too. My family lives in Wyoming and we have dirt roads all over the place. After reading through the posts, I found inflatable seat cushions for myself, my sister and our parents to take on our Kenya and Tanzania trip last August. They never came out of the suitcase. There were some stretches of road that were bumpier than others, but nothing that seemed particularly bad to us. The seats in the vehicles were fine and our driver/guides were very skillful at maneuvering across the roads and terrain.
The hot air balloon ride was incredible. We actually had the same pilot pictured above.
